No Longer Alone
by kmleesonxoxo
Summary: What does Maria do when she realises that she could have just killed Steve? *Spoilers* It's set just after Maria has the helicarrier's destroy each other as she tries to find Steve. It also describes when, in my world, they really got to know one and other.


Closing her eyes for a moment, Maria took a deep breath and composed herself, she couldn't believe that she had actually done that, she knew that it was necessary and with Steve's approval, there was little else she could do but follow orders. But now, all she could think about was what else she could have done, could she have saved him? What other options did she have? It was her job, right? Exhaling sharply, Maria pushed the thoughts of recent events to the back of her mind, she would over think things later when there wasn't other things to be done. With a clearer mind, the young agent asked herself a slightly more positive question, could he be alive? The thought kick-started her system back into action as she began pressing buttons, "Steve?" she yelled into her head piece, hoping that he would reply, "Steve!" Continuing on her crusade, Maria froze a few minutes into her search, "Steve" she muttered to herself, her heart rate increasing as she saw what seemed to resemble a man on the edge of the river. Zooming in on the body, she soon recognised the strong planes of the Captain's form, the colours of his patriotic suit confirming his identity.

Recording the location of the man, Maria took the precautions to hide her actions before jumping from her seat and making her way towards a car she had parked outside, her mind focused on one thing at that point, nobody and no one was going to distract her or stop her from getting to that man.

Over the past few months, Steve and Maria had grown rather close, not that anyone else had any idea, it seemed, that in this world of war, Maria and Steve were the only one's who were truly alone, Natasha had Clint, Bruce had Betty, Tony had Pepper and Thor had Jane, even Fury was married. Unlike Steve, Maria was used to being alone, it had always been that way for her, as a child her father did not care, scaring the woman without her even realising it. The young Captain on the other hand had always had Bucky, but since being defrosted, he had been completely solitary.

One night, not too long after the invasion of New York, Maria had come across Steve in the S.H.I. . Headquarters, Fury had told him that he was always welcome but he probably didn't mean at that time of night. The building was almost silent, most had gone home for the evening, to be with their families or simply to spend some time in their own bed. The young brunette had come across the man sitting in the on site library, the room was bathed in darkness apart from a single lamp that sat next to the blonde. Leaning against the door frame, she watched him for a minute, smiling at the sight of his features changing as he read the book, obviously engrossed enough by the words not to notice her presence. Crossing her arms she smiled for a moment before allowing her stoic look to return, "I would never have pegged you as a reader," Maria chuckled, remaining where she stood while she waited for a reaction.

The older man's eyes flicked up to catch hers, his body tensing for a moment before he realised just who had interrupted him, "Ah, Agent Hill," he exhaled, smiling up at the woman, "It seems that reading is the best way for me to catch up on what I've missed."

Allowing her eyes to pass over the cover of the book in his hand, the agent chuckled a little before moving towards him, "I don't think 'The Notebook' is going to help you catch up much," she teased, her heart warming a fraction as a soft blush passed across his cheeks, "don't worry about it, I think almost everyone has read the book or seen the movie."

Calming a little, Steve offered the woman a grateful smile, "There's only so much history I can take in at any one time, the Google thing suggested this book."

Nodding her understanding, Maria resisted the urge to make a snarky comment about him searching for romance novels but something about teasing the man made her feel guilty, it would be like kicking a puppy, even she wouldn't do that. Sitting down in the seat on the other side of the lamp, Maria took a deep breath and sighed, it was the first time she had sat in a comfortable chair in days, "I'd ask if this seat was taken, but I don't believe there are many people left in the building at this time of the night, so I doubt anyone is sitting here."

Turning to look at the woman, Steve couldn't help but appreciate how much the agents eyes sparkled when she asserted her knowledge, the pale shade of blue achieving new heights of beauty when the woman was pleased, "Forgive me for noticing, ma'am, but you're sitting there, surely that kind of opposes your whole theory, what exactly are you doing here anyway?"

Scoffing a little at his response, Maria leant back in the chair but turned her head to face the man, "I could ask you the same question, don't you have a comfy apartment you could be in?"

Looking away, Steve moved his eyes to his hands, chuckling lightly before lifting his eyes again, "and I could ask you the same question too."

Maria couldn't help but smile at Steve's ability to keep up with her, he obviously had his reasons for being there but he wasn't really comfortable enough talking about that, she understood that, she kind of respected him for his ability to keep his feeling to himself.

"If we carry on like this we're going to end up sitting in silence, not that that's a bad thing, I like the peace and quiet." Steve just sat there, quiet, his mind swirling as he tried to figure out how exactly he wanted to respond. Maria, being a woman who was used people not wanting to be around her, stood to leave, smoothing out her uniform before she moved.

Swallowing hard, Steve turned to the woman, "please, don't leave, I like the company."

Something inside Maria melted as he spoke, normally she would run a mile if someone asked her to stay like he did, but some part of her wanted to sit with him, even if they just sat in silence. Falling back down into her seat, Maria picked up a book Steve had previously added to a pile, she had no where else she needed to be, home didn't feel like home and there was little else she could do at work at that point. Smiling to herself, she read the title of the book she had just picked up, 'Safe Haven', Maria's hearts warmed a little, he really was a romantic, it was odd, but nice to see.

Since that day, that was how they spent most of their free nights, sitting there, reading, Maria had always been a closet book nerd, it was nice to finally have and excuse to read novels again. As time had moved on, they had begun to speak more, Maria slowly broke down those walls she had spent so many years building up and Steve finally found comfort in the modern world. It seemed that the two lonely soldiers had finally found a friend, even if it was something they kept a secret.

Jumping in her car, Maria swerved through traffic at a speed that would certainly get her arrested if the police could catch her, but luckily no one seemed in the mood to stop her, not that she would even slow down if they tried. Pulling up to the bank, the young agent jumped from the car, locking it quickly before she ran towards the body of her friend, "STEVE!" Dropping to her knees, Maria began to shake the man, "Please, Steve, wake up!" Checking his pulse, she exhaled sharply, he was alive, unconscious but alive. Yelling his name one last time, she lifted her hand and slapped him hard across the face. Shocked into consciousness, the Captain's eyes flew open, his body recovering quickly from the shock of the fall, "Maria?" he questioned, sitting up to look the woman in the eye's, "what are you doing here?" Shaking her head, the young agent rested her hands on her thighs, "helping you out, next time, don't almost get yourself almost killed, okay?" Chuckling lightly at the woman, the blonde pulled his mask from his face, "deal."

**A.N: Okay, it's been like a week since I saw his film so my recollection of the details is slightly blurry, so I'm sorry of I get bits wrong, and I'm sorry if it's bad! I'm thinking about extending this but it depends on what people think of it, let me know! :) **


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